The first volley didn't kill it.
It angered it.
The Warden's cannons slammed into the creature's body in synchronized bursts, sigils flaring as compressed energy tore chunks of crystal and root away. Limbs disintegrated mid-formation. Walls exploded where anchors had fused. The atrium became a storm of debris and screaming resonance.
And still—it endured.
The creature absorbed the impact by redistributing itself. Where one section shattered, another thickened. Roots retracted from ruined anchors and re-emerged elsewhere, burrowing into fresh stone, into fallen bodies, into the metal plating of the Wardens' own barricades.
It learned again.
Kain felt it like pressure behind the eyes.
"This thing's adapting to ranged fire," he shouted, sprinting through collapsing cover. "It's spreading load!"
"I see it," Yuri snapped, already moving. Frost coiled violently around him as he slammed a hand into the ground. Ice surged outward in layered waves, locking down sections of the creature mid-growth, forcing it to overcommit mass just to break free.
That was the opening.
Kain took it.
He dove straight into the chaos, low and fast, knife clenched tight. Shrapnel sliced past him. A crystal blade erupted from the floor—he vaulted it, landed hard, rolled, and came up inside the creature's reach again.
Every instinct screamed at him to back off.
He ignored it.
Kain drove the knife into a glowing seam near the creature's core—where dozens of faces writhed beneath thin Soulglass, mouths open in silent agony. The blade barely penetrated, but the reaction was explosive.
The creature shrieked and lashed out.
A root-whip caught Kain across the chest and flung him bodily into a shattered pillar. He hit, bounced, and collapsed to one knee, coughing blood. Pain screamed through his ribs.
He forced himself up anyway.
Across the atrium, the Warden barked orders, her voice cutting cleanly through the chaos. "Unit Three, flank left. Sever anchors. Do not let it establish perimeter dominance."
Easier said than done.
The creature surged upward, mass condensing, then expanding. Its torso split open, crystal peeling back to reveal a hollow chamber packed with fused remains—bones, armor, weapons—all rotating slowly, grinding together as energy built.
Yuri's eyes widened. "It's charging something big."
"Then break it," Kain growled.
Yuri stepped forward, planting his feet. The temperature plummeted. Frost raced across the floor, up the walls, over debris. The air crystallized with sharp, glittering motes.
Yuri raised both hands.
The ice answered.
A massive spear formed in midair—jagged, layered, spiraling with internal fractures that glowed pale blue. Yuri screamed as he hurled it forward, the force tearing cracks into the ground beneath him.
The spear punched straight into the creature's chest cavity.
For a heartbeat—silence.
Then the creature detonated outward.
Ice shattered. Crystal exploded. A shockwave ripped through the atrium, flattening Wardens, throwing Kain off his feet, slamming Yuri backward like a ragdoll.
The creature emerged from the blast altered.
Its upper body had split into multiple articulated segments, rotating independently. Limbs extruded and retracted with terrifying speed, each ending in different weapons—blades, hammers, barbed tendrils. Faces were gone now.
No more screaming.
Just intent.
The Warden swore. "It's stabilized. All units—fallback positions now!"
Too late.
The creature moved faster than before.
It surged into the Warden line, tearing through shields like paper. One soldier was lifted screaming and slammed into the ceiling hard enough to shatter bone and armor alike. Another vanished beneath a collapsing wall as roots erupted from below.
Kain forced himself up, vision swimming. His knife felt absurdly small in his hand.
Good.
That meant he had no illusions left.
He sprinted toward the creature's flank, weaving through debris, ducking under a sweeping blade that took a Warden's head clean off. He leapt, grabbed onto a rotating segment, and hauled himself up as the creature thrashed.
The surface burned cold against his hands.
He stabbed.
Again.
Again.
Again.
Each strike was precise now—not desperate. He targeted stress points, joints, interfaces where rotation met resistance. The creature's movements began to stutter, just slightly.
Yuri rejoined the fight, limping, blood streaking down his temple. He slammed ice into the ground repeatedly, freezing limbs mid-swing, shattering them under accumulated stress.
"Now!" Yuri shouted. "It's overloading!"
The creature roared—not in pain, but fury—and transformed again.
Its lower body rooted permanently into the floor, sacrificing mobility for stability. Its upper mass swelled, crystal thickening into near-opaque armor. Energy flared violently along its veins.
It was preparing to end the room.
The Warden didn't hesitate.
"Final protocol," she said coldly. "Full output."
Glyphs ignited across her armor and weapon. The cannons charged beyond safe limits, humming with lethal resonance.
Kain dropped from the creature just as the blast hit.
The beam tore straight through the atrium, obliterating the creature's upper mass in a blinding eruption of light and sound. Stone vaporized. Ice sublimated instantly. The shockwave knocked everyone flat.
When the light faded—
The creature was still there.
Reduced.
Cracked.
But alive.
Anchored deep.
Breathing.
Silence fell, broken only by distant groans and the hiss of cooling metal.
Kain stared, chest heaving. "It's not done."
The creature twitched.
Roots began to move again.
And something else stirred beneath the floor—something answering the call.
The dead were not finished screaming.